Means for keeping up the oscillations of pendulums



C. BATTEGAY Oct. 31, 1933.

MEANS FOR KEEPING UP THE OSCILLATIONS OF PENDULUMS 2 She'ets-Shee'h 1Filed Feb. 7,.1931

INVENTOR.

BY J v u TTORNEY.

0a. 31 1933. c. BATTEGAY 1 539 MEANS FOR KEEPING UP THE OSCILLATIONS OFPENDULUMS Filed Feb. 7, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 6'0/7570/7/5017690 J/ A TTORNE Y.

Patented Oct. 31, 1933 .UNIIED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR KEEPING UPTHE OSCILLA- TIONS 0F PENDULUMS poration of France Application February7, 1931, Serial No. 514,098, and in France June 27, 1930 14 Claims.

My invention has for its object improvements in the means for keeping upthe oscillations of pendulums, chiefly in clocks.

It has for its chief object to keep up these oscillations by using anescapement mechanism of the Reid, Cole or the like type wherein theaction of the driving weight or spring is replaced by that ofelectricity.

It consists chiefly in moving aside alternatingly one of the oscillationmaintaining parts through the agency of a polarized electromagnet, thecurrent flowing through which is controlled by the contact providedbetween the said parts and the pendulum itself.

It will be well understood from the following description andaccompanying drawings given solely by way of example of several forms ofexecution of my invention.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a clock pendulum kept swinging according toinvention.

Fig. 2 is a front view of a modification of the system for keeping upthe oscillations.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatical showing of a modification of the wiringdiagram.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic showing of still another modification of thewiring diagram.

Figs. 5 and 6 relate to other forms of execution of my invention.

It is known that the oscillations of a pendulum may be kept up throughthe differential action of a counterweight or of a spring the positivedriving action of which is greater than the negative action.

In particular it is known that this differential action may be obtainedthrough the agency of electric energy.

My invention has for its object improvements in devices for keeping uposcillations of the above described type, in particular as concerns thesymmetry of the actions on the pendulum, the chiciency of theelectromagnetic motors and the simplicity of execution.

It is known in eifect that the main drawback of such electric methods ofkeeping up pendulums is due to the comparatively considerableconsumption of electric energy required and the consequent difiicultiesconcerning chiefly the life of the battery and the wear of the electriccontacts.

According to my invention, I use as a driving electromagnetic part apolarized receiver having a high efficiency which on one hand controlsthe movement of the hands and on the other hand keeps the oscillationsof the pendulum up owing to the differential action of two springs movedalternatingly aside by the movement of the receiver.

These springs close in alternation the circuit of the receiver overbatteries of cells in a direction such as will provide the reversedcurrent impulses required for its working.

As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the pendulum 1 suspended from 2carries at its lower end a weight 3 and a little underneath thesuspension point a contact 4.

Two spring blades 5 and 6 with contact pins '7 and 8 urge constantlyagainst the contact 4 on. the pendulum. They are separated one from theother by a small insulating part 9 carried at the end of a lever 10moving integrally with the receiver armature.

The latter comprises chiefly a magnet 11 in the magnetic field of whichan iron core 12 provided with a winding 13 is adapted to rock.

The magnetic circuit has a shape such that the reluctance of the circuitremains substantially constant during the movement of the armature12-43, the direction of the magnetic flux of the magnet passing throughthe armature changing however for a very small angular shift.

The rocking motion of the receiver armature drives the hands of theclock through any known device such as an anchor 14 and a 30-toothratchet wheel 15 to the shaft of which is keyed the seconds hand.

The two springs 5 and 6 are connected with the positive and negativepoles of a battery of two cells 16 and 17 connected in series and theconnection between which is connected with one terminal of the receiverthe other terminal of which is grounded through the mass of the penduluml.

The operation of the mechanism in maintaining the pendulum oscillationsis easy to understand. Supposing the pendulum moves in the direction ofthe arrow, i. e. from left to right, the contact i -'7 is first brokenand when the pendulum has slightly passed beyond its position ofequilibrium, the contact 48 closes whereby a current impulse is sentfrom the battery 17 into'the winding 13 of the receiver in a directionsuch that the coil 13 oscillates from right to left. During thismovement, the anchor 14 causes the ratchet wheel 15 to advance through ahalf tooth and thereby the seconds tooth through the angle correspondingto one second. At the same time the insulating part 9 moves towards theleft and releases the spring 6 while it moves the spring 5 aside. Thependulum continuing moving rightwards the pendulum 1 bends the spring 6and transmits some energy to it after which it returns towards the leftwith the assistance of the energy thus stored in the spring 6 whichgives the pendulum more energy than it has precedently transmitted toit, the space traveled over during this return travel being moreconsiderable than the outwards journey owing to the initial displacementof the spring 8 by the insulating part 9. The contact 4 now passes awayfrom contact 8 and comes against the contact 7 whereby the circuit ofthe cell 16 is closed over the re-: ceiver. The direction of the currentis reversed in the coil 13. The said coil 13 rocks and re-- turns intoposition shown in the figure. The same phenomena begin over again in theopposite direction, the spring 5 being in this case pushed aside by thependulum and returning thenafter more energy to it than it has justreceived from it.

Returning now to Fig. 2, the modification shown is simpler in as much asthe insulating part 9 is omitted, the spring blades 5 and 6 beingcarried by the moving part of the receiver itself.

In this Figure 2, when the pendulum moves from left to right in thedirection of the arrow, it begins by closing the contact between thecontacts 4 and 8 and causes current to pass through the receiver winding13 from the cell 17 whereby the coil 12 is rocked in a direction opposedto that of the arrow into the position shown in the figure. Thismovement of the coil controls, as in the preceding case, through theanchor and the ratchet wheel, the movement of the clock hands and at thesame time changes the position of the spring assembly 5-6 in a mannersuch that the travel of the spring 6 is greater when it accompanies thereturn movement of the pendulum than when it is pushed by the latter inits forward movement. Consequently there is an excess of positive workof the spring which keeps the pendulum oscillating. During the next halfoscillation the contact 4-? is closed; the cell 16 feeds the receiver ina direction opposed to the feed from 17 whereby the coil 12 is movedtowards the left, i. e. clockwise. The spring assembly 5-6 movestherewith so as to insure an increased return journey from the spring 5with reference to its forward travel and a consequent excess of positivedrive provided thereby and so on indefinitely.

Sparking at contacts 4-7 and 48 may be eliminated by the use ofcondensers 1819 and the resistances 2021, as illustrated in Figure 3.

The consumption of electric energy may be considerably reduced by makinguse of the wiring diagram illustrated in Fig. 4. It will be readilyunderstood that once the armature 12 has been moved, the currentcontinues passing in a perfectly useless manner through the coil 13 ofthe receiver. A substantial economy is thus provided by feeding thereceiver with the current strictly required for its working.

As shown in Fig. 4, the connections are the same as previously with theaddition of a condenser 22 in series with the coil 13 of the receiver.The working is the same as previously, but the re-- ceiver 13 is nolonger fed with permanent cur rents and is actuated only by the currentsloading the condenser 22 in one direction or the other. In order toprovide sufficient energy, the battery cells at 16 and 17 must besufliciently numerous. One of the batteries 16 or 17 may even beomitted, the receiver 13 working through the currents loading andunloading in alternation the condenser 22.

Obviously my invention is by no means limited to the forms of executiondisclosed and covers on the contrary all modifications thereof whichfall fairly within the scope of appended claims.

In particular the polarized receiver may differ from that shown by wayof example and in fact any polarized receiver having a sufficientefficiency may be used in principle. It may even be of advantage in thecase of Fig. 4, to use a receiver the inertia of the moving part ofwhich is as small as possible.

In order to prevent any short-circuiting of the batteries owing to afortuitous simultaneous contacting of the two pins 7 and 8 by thecontact 4, an insulating part the width of which is slightly above thatof 4 is provided between the springs 5 and 6.

The keeping up of the pendulum oscillations may also be ensured by asingle spring blade carried by the penduli in or its suspension meansand adapted to engage in alternation the pins 7 and 8 carried by thereceiver (Fig. 5).

The parts such as 5 and 6 which have been supposed hereinabove to becarried or controlled independently by the receiver may as well becarried by an independent spindle 18' (Fig. 6) and their movement ismerely controlled by that of the pendulum.

The pendulum may also be constituted by a wire of so-called Invar steelcarrying the weight 3 at its lower end.

What I claim is:

1. A clockwork control device comprising a polarized receiver having anarmature mounted to rock, circuits for alternately passing electriccurrent of opposite polarities through said receiver to cause thearmature thereof to rock, a pendulum supported to oscillate, a contactcarried by the pendulum and common to both circuits, a pair of springcontacts positioned on opposite sides of the pendulum and respectivelyincluded in said circuits, and mechanical connections between thearmature and said spring contacts to alternately tension the springcontacts to impart, through the reaction of said con tacts, impulses tothe pendulum. I

2. A clockwork control device comprising a polarized receiver having anarmature mounted to rock, circuits for alternately passing electriccurrent of opposite polarities through said receiver to cause thearmature thereof to rock, a pendulum supported to oscillate, a contactcarried by said pendulum and common to both circuits, spring contactsincluded in the respective circuits and positioned on opposite sides ofthe pendulum to be engaged alternately by the pendulum contact andflexed during such engagement, and operative connections between saidspring contacts and the armature for laterally shifting said springcontacts with respect to the pendulum contact.

3. In combination with a pendulum, a polarized receiver mounted to rock,electric circuits adapted to feed the receiver with current of oppositepolarities, current switching means controlled by the pendulum at eachhalf oscillation thereof to alternately feed current of oppositepolarities through the receiver and thereby cause the receiver to rockalternately in opposite directions, said current switching meansincluding a symmetrical spring arrangement having opposing partsalternately engageable by the pendulum, means operated by the receiverto move said opposing parts of the spring arrangement alternately asidein advance of the pendulum until the pendulum has swung past itsposition of equilibrium, whereby said parts are respectively flexed whenengaged by the pendulum for imparting impulses to the latter 4. Aclockwork control device comprising a pendulum, a polarized receiver,electric circuits adapted to feed the receiver with current of oppositepolarities, two spring contacts on opposite sides of the pendulum andadapted to be alternately engaged thereby to alternately feed current ofopposite polarities through the receiver, means operated by the receiverto move each spring slightly outwardly in advance of the correspondingoutward movement of the pendulum and to release said spring before thependulum has reached, on its return travel, the point to which thespring had been previously brought by the said means, whereby impulsesare imparted to the pendulum, and means operative by the receiver toactuate the clockwork.

5. A clockwork control device comprising a pendulum, a polarizedreceiver including an armature mounted to rock, electric circuitsadapted to feed the receiver armature with current of op positepolarities, two spring contacts on opposite sides of the pendulumpositioned to be engaged by the pendulum to alternately connect saidcircuits with the receiver armature, means, controlled by the receiverarmature, to move each spring to a point slightly outward of its normalposition in advance of the corresponding outward movement or thependulum and to release it before the pendulum has passed in its returnmovement, beyond the just defined point, whereby impulses are impartedto the pendulum, and means operated by the receiver armature forcontrolling a clockwork,

6. [i clockwork control device comprising a pendulum, a polarizedreceiver including an armature mounted to rock, electric circuitsadapted to feed the receiver armature with current of oppositepolarities, two spring contacts on opposite sides of the pendulumpositioned to be engaged by the pendulum to alternately connect saidcir= cults with the receiver armature, an insulated part, carried by thereceiver armature, to move each spring to a point slightly outward ofits normal position in advance of the corresponding outward movement ofthe pendulum and to release it before the pendulum has passed in itsreturn movement, beyond the just defined point, whereby impulses areimparted to the pendulum, and means operated by the receiver armaturefor controlling a clockwork.

7. A clockwork control device comprising a pendulum, a polarizedreceiver including an armature mounted to rock, two sources of currentsupply of opposite polarity, two springs contacts on opposite sides ofthe pendulum adapted to cooperate with the pendulum :for selectivelyconnecting the corresponding source of current supply with the receiverarmature, means controlled by the receiver armature to selectively moveeach spring to a point slightly outward of its normal position inadvance of the corresponding outward movement of the pendulum and torelease it before the pendulum has passed, in its return movement,beyond the just defined point, whereby impulses are imparted to thependulum, a con denser in series with the armature, and means operatedby the receiver armature to control a clockwork.

8. A clockwork control device comprising a polarized receiver having anarmature mounted to rock, circuits for alternately passing electriccurrent of opposite polarities through said receiver to cause thearmature thereof to rock, a

pendulum supported to oscillate, a contact carried by said pendulum andcommon to both circuits, spring contacts included in the respectivecircuits and positioned on opposite sides of the pendulum to be engagedalternately by the pendulum contact and flexed during such engagement tostore up reacting pendulum operating power, and operative connectionsbetween said spring contacts and the armature for laterally shiftingsaid spring contacts with respect to the pendulum contact to increasethe flection of the spring which is next to react upon the pendulum tooperate the same.

9. A clockwork control device comprising a polarized receiver having anarmature mounted to rock, circuits for alternately passing electriccurrent of opposite polarities through said receiver to cause thearmature thereof to'rock, a pendulum supported to oscillate, a contactcarried by the pendulum and common to both circuits, and spring contactspositioned to be engaged alternately by the contact on the pendulum whenthe pendulum oscillates, said spring contacts being so positioned thatthey are flexed during oscillation of the pendulum to maintain theoscillation of such pendulum through the return of the contacts tonormal positions after having been flexed by the oscillation oi thependulum in opposite directions, and means operative by the armature topreliminarily flex each spring contact prior to the engagement of thependulum contact therewith.

10. A clockwork control device comprising a polarized receiver having anarmature mounted to rock, circuits for alternately passing electriccurrent of opposite polarities through said receiver to cause thearmature thereof to rock, contacts in said circuits, a pendulumsupported to oscillate, and resilient means operatively connected withthe armature, to be flexed when the armature is rocked and positioned totransmit energy to the pendulum to sustain its oscillations, saidresilient means carrying at least one of said contacts to cause saidcircuits to be selectively closed and broken in accordance with theoscillations of the pendulum.

11. A clockwork control device comprising a polarized receiver having anarmature mounted to rock, circuits for alternately passing electriccurrent of opposite polarities through said receiver to cause thearmature thereof to rock, a pendulum supported to oscillate, a contactcarried by the pendulum and common to both circuits, and spring contactspositioned to be alternately engaged by the contact on the pendulum whenthe pendulum oscillates, and operative connections between the armatureand said spring contacts to flex the spring contacts when the armatureis rocked and store energy in said contacts to sustain oscillation ofthe pendulum.-

12. A clockwork control device comprising a polarized receiver having anarmature mounted to rock, circuits for alternately passing electriccurrent of opposite polarities through said receiver to cause thearmature thereof to rock, a pendulum supported to oscillate, a contactcarried by said pendulum and common to both circuits, spring contactsincluded in the respective circuits and positioned on opposite sides ofthe pendulum to be engaged alternately by the pendulum contact, andmechanical connections between said spring contacts and the armature forlaterally shifting said spring contacts to place them alternately undertension, whereby they are adapted to react and transmit impulses to thependulum to sustain the oscillations of the latter.

13. A clockwork control device comprising a pendulum, a polarizedreceiver including an armature mounted to rock, electric circuitsadapted to feed the receiver armature with current of oppositepolarities, contacts carried by the receiver and connected to saidcircuits, a spring contact carried by the pendulum and adapted foralternate engagement with said receiver contacts to feed current ofopposite polarities alternately through said receiver to rock thereceiver and thereby tension the spring contact alternately against thependulum to impart impulses to said pendulum.

14. A clockwise control device comprising a polarized receiver having anarmature mounted to rock, circuits for alternately passing electric current of opposite polarities through said receiver to cause the armaturethereof to rock, a pendulum supported to oscillate, pendulum contactmeans carried by the pendulum and common to both circuits, spacedcontact means positioned to be alternately engaged by the pendulumcontact means when the pendulum oscillates, one of said contact meansbeing resilient, and mechanical connections between the armature andsaid resilient contact means and operable by rocking movement of thearmature to tension said means to react upon the pendulum and sustainthe oscillations of the latter.

CONSTANT BATTEGAY'

